June 04, 2010

Even Monks Are Now Abandoning Catalog Marketing

"All businesses have a lifecycle, and the monks felt that the catalog business was past its peak as a dominant business model".

And to top it off:

Wilson says Snail’s Pace will reflect changing marketing paradigms: “You’ll see less money spent on advertising, catalogs, direct mail and the like, and more effort put into reaching exactly the right customer prospects through social media channels, the Internet, and through media that they are currently consuming.”

Now half of you will say that "... print isn't dead, my vendor/co-op just showed me matchback results and 81% of my sales are attributed back to the catalog."And you may be right, assuming that your matchback results tie out to your mail/holdout test results. Have you done the analytics work to prove that your matchback results are accurate? Has your vendor recommended mail/holdout testing to validate matchback results?

I'm not saying you shouldn't be mailing catalogs ... I'm saying you should make profitable decisions. Look at what is happening all around you, and pay close attention to how customer behavior is shifting.

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Kevin Hillstrom, President, MineThatData

Kevin is President of MineThatData, a consultancy that helps CEOs understand the complex relationship between Customers, Advertising, Products, Brands, and Channels. Kevin supports a diverse set of clients, including internet startups, thirty million dollar catalog merchants, international brands, and billion dollar multichannel retailers. Kevin is frequently quoted in the mainstream media, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Forbes Magazine.

Prior to founding MineThatData, Kevin held various roles at leading multichannel brands, including Vice President of Database Marketing at Nordstrom, Director of Circulation at Eddie Bauer, and Manager of Analytical Services at Lands' End.

You may contact kevin at kevinh@minethatdata.com.

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